U.S. patent number 10,274,084 [Application Number 13/504,555] was granted by the patent office on 2019-04-30 for gasket locating arrangements.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Alfa Laval Corporate AB. The grantee listed for this patent is Kasper Hoglund, Magnus Lingvall. Invention is credited to Kasper Hoglund, Magnus Lingvall.
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United States Patent |
10,274,084 |
Hoglund , et al. |
April 30, 2019 |
Gasket locating arrangements
Abstract
A gasket locating arrangement for a flow module, preferably
plate reactor, includes a gasket, one or more locating devices, a
channel in a channel plate, and a barrier plate. The gasket
consists of a sheet of soft gasket material. The sheet has a cut
through pattern corresponding to the channel in the channel plate.
The locating devices are in the gasket, in the channel plate, in
the barrier plate or combinations thereof. The locating devices are
headed pins, fitting pins, protruded pins, integrated pins, dowel
pins, grooves, holes, under cut recesses, thickened parts in the
gasket material, and/or gasket deformation zones.
Inventors: |
Hoglund; Kasper (Ronninge,
SE), Lingvall; Magnus (Huddinge, SE) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hoglund; Kasper
Lingvall; Magnus |
Ronninge
Huddinge |
N/A
N/A |
SE
SE |
|
|
Assignee: |
Alfa Laval Corporate AB (Lund,
SE)
|
Family
ID: |
42104710 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/504,555 |
Filed: |
October 26, 2010 |
PCT
Filed: |
October 26, 2010 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/EP2010/066178 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
July 10, 2012 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2011/051291 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
May 05, 2011 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20120285670 A1 |
Nov 15, 2012 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 30, 2009 [SE] |
|
|
09174589.3 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01J
19/249 (20130101); F16J 15/062 (20130101); F28F
3/10 (20130101); F16J 15/061 (20130101); B01J
2219/2493 (20130101); B01J 2219/2459 (20130101); B01J
2219/2462 (20130101); B01J 2219/2453 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01J
19/24 (20060101); F28F 3/10 (20060101); F16J
15/06 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;165/166,167
;277/312,598,637,640,650,946 ;422/602,603 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
650893 |
|
Oct 1937 |
|
DE |
|
0729003 |
|
Aug 1996 |
|
EP |
|
2618889 |
|
Feb 1989 |
|
FR |
|
2069680 |
|
Aug 1981 |
|
GB |
|
2078926 |
|
Jan 1982 |
|
GB |
|
WO 2007/050013 |
|
May 2007 |
|
WO |
|
Other References
International Search Report for PCT/EP10/066178, dated Jan. 21,
2011. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Tran; Len
Assistant Examiner: Weiland; Hans R
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Murtha Cullina LLP
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A gasket locating arrangement for a flow module, preferably
plate reactor, comprising: a gasket, locating means, a channel in a
channel plate, a barrier plate, wherein the gasket consists of a
sheet of soft gasket material, and said sheet has a cut through
pattern corresponding to the channel in the channel plate, the
locating means are in the gasket, in the channel plate, in the
barrier plate or combinations thereof, which locating means are
selected from the group consisting of headed pins, fitting pins,
protruded pins, integrated pins, dowel pins, grooves, holes, under
cut recesses, thickened parts in the gasket material, gasket
deformation zones, wherein the locating means in the gasket, in the
channel plate, or in the barrier plate are fitted into or to
corresponding locating means in the gasket, in the channel plate,
in the barrier plate or in combinations thereof leaving a flat
surface together with the gasket between the channel plate and the
barrier plate when the gasket locating arrangement is assembled for
sealing the channel of the channel plate, and that the cut through
pattern in the gasket makes it possible for the flow of media or
the flow of fluids in the channel of the channel plate to touch the
barrier plate and to have no contacts with the gasket's planar
faces and little or minimized contact with any of the gaskets
edges.
2. The gasket locating arrangement according to claim 1, comprising
the locating means for locating the gasket between the barrier
plate and the channel plate are holes or pins or both holes and
pins, the means locate the gasket between the barrier plate and the
channel plate, and wherein heads of pins are allowed to disappear
in counter sunk area of holes leaving a flat surface together with
the gasket when the gasket locating arrangement is assembled.
3. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
the pins are located into holes in the barrier plate or into holes
in the channel plate, and the pins are located through holes in the
gasket.
4. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
the pins are integrated in the channel plate or integrated in the
barrier plate, or the pins are integrated in both the channel plate
and the barrier plate.
5. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
thickened parts in the gasket material, holes in the gasket
material, or deformation zones in the gasket material locate the
gasket to corresponding holes, grooves or under cut recesses in the
barrier plate, in the channel plate or in both channel plate and
the barrier plate.
6. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
the holes have countersunk areas, the holes are all-through holes,
or the holes are all-through holes having countersunk areas.
7. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
the soft gasket material is selected from the group of materials
consisting of multi layer expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE),
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluorelastomers,
fluorelastomers, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polypropene
(PP).
8. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
the soft gasket material is expanded polytetrafluoroethylene
(ePTFE) having layers of a stochastic fibrous structure and large
amount of void space the material undergoes a nonrecoverable
deformation under assembly compression.
9. The gasket locating arrangements according to claim 1, wherein
the pins are made of a material selected from the group consisting
of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluorelastomers,
fluorelastomers, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polypropene
(PP).
10. A method of using gasket locating arrangements, the method
comprising: providing a gasket locating arrangement comprising: a
gasket, locating means, a channel in a channel plate, a barrier
plate, wherein the gasket consists of a sheet of soft gasket
material, and said sheet has a cut through pattern corresponding to
the channel in the channel plate, the locating means are in the
gasket, in the channel plate, in the barrier plate or combinations
thereof, which locating means are selected from the group
consisting of headed pins, fitting pins, protruded pins, integrated
pins, dowel pins, grooves, holes, under cut recesses, thickened
parts in the gasket material, gasket deformation zones, wherein the
locating means in the gasket, in the channel plate, or in the
barrier plate are fitted into or to corresponding locating means in
the gasket, in the channel plate, in the barrier plate or in
combinations thereof leaving a flat surface together with the
gasket between the channel plate and the barrier plate when the
gasket locating arrangement is assembled for sealing the channel of
the channel plate, and that the cut through pattern in the gasket
makes it possible for the flow of media or the flow of fluids in
the channel of the channel plate to touch the barrier plate and to
have no contacts with the gasket's planar faces and little or
minimized contact with any of the gaskets edges; and sealing a
channel in a plate reactor or plate flow module with the gasket
locating arrangement.
11. A flow module comprising: at least one gasket locating
arrangement comprising: a gasket, locating means, a channel in a
channel plate, a barrier plate, wherein the gasket consists of a
sheet of soft gasket material, and said sheet has a cut through
pattern corresponding to the channel in the channel plate, the
locating means are in the gasket, in the channel plate, in the
barrier plate or combinations thereof, which locating means are
selected from the group consisting of headed pins, fitting pins,
protruded pins, integrated pins, dowel pins, grooves, holes, under
cut recesses, thickened parts in the gasket material, gasket
deformation zones, wherein the locating means in the gasket, in the
channel plate, or in the barrier plate are fitted into or to
corresponding locating means in the gasket, in the channel plate,
in the barrier plate or in combinations thereof leaving a flat
surface together with the gasket between the channel plate and the
barrier plate when the gasket locating arrangement is assembled for
sealing the channel of the channel plate, and that the cut through
pattern in the gasket makes it possible for the flow of media or
the flow of fluids in the channel of the channel plate to touch the
barrier plate and to have no contacts with the gasket's planar
faces and little or minimized contact with any of the gaskets
edges; one or more heat transfer devices for heat transfer to and
from the channel, and wherein each channel plate has at least one
inlet to the channel, and one outlet from the channel.
12. A flow module according to claim 11, wherein the channel plate
has one or more port holes, which port holes makes it possible to
access the channel.
13. A flow module according to claim 11, wherein the one or more
heat transfer devices comprises a utility plate and a barrier
plate, between the utility plate and the barrier plate is a
turbulator insert inserted for enhancing the heat transfer to and
from the channel of the channel plates.
14. A flow module of claim 11, wherein the flow module comprises a
plate reactor.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a gasket locating arrangement, a
use of the gasket locating arrangements in a flow module, and a
flow module, preferably a plate reactor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Thin, planar gaskets can be used in applications where two flat
surfaces are clamped together to seal off an interior chamber or
flow path to an exterior space. In some applications, the gaskets
are located coincident with the shape of the flat sealing surfaces.
In other applications, the gaskets are located and attached to a
sealing surface to allow handling during assembly. This can be a
problem during assembly of complex shaped gaskets, or where the
gasket is hidden during assembly, or where there are no means to
locate the gasket by its edges. A restriction is that for the
interference fitted dowel pins it requires enough thickness of the
plate. Another restriction is that it does not easily allow for
removal of the dowel pins and there will always be crevices in the
interference fit for the dowel pins which are difficult to clean
and spot for corrosion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a gasket locating arrangement for a flow module, preferably plate
reactor, the gasket locating arrangement comprises a gasket,
locating means, a channel in a channel plate, a barrier plate,
wherein the gasket constitutes of a sheet of soft gasket material,
and said sheet has a cut through pattern corresponding to the
channel in the channel plate. In one embodiment, the locating means
are in the gasket, in the channel plate, in the barrier plate or
combinations thereof, the locating means are selected from the
group consisting of headed pins, fitting pins, protruded pins,
integrated pins, dowel pins, grooves, holes, under cut recesses,
thickened parts in the gasket material, holes in the gasket
material, gasket deformation zones etc. In one embodiment, the
locating means in the gasket, in the channel plate, or in the
barrier plate are fitted into or to corresponding locating means in
the gasket, in the channel plate, in the barrier plate or in
combinations thereof leaving a flat surface together with the
gasket between the channel plate and the barrier plate when the
gasket locating arrangement is assembled for sealing the channel of
the channel plate.
In one embodiment, the locating means for locating the gasket
between the barrier plate and the channel plate are holes or pins
or both holes and pins, which means locate the gasket between the
barrier plate and the channel plate, and wherein heads of pins are
allowed to disappear in counter sunk area of holes leaving a flat
surface together with the gasket when the gasket locating
arrangement is assembled. In one embodiment, the pins are located
into holes in the barrier plate or into holes in the channel plate,
and the pins can be located through holes in the gasket. In one
embodiment, the pins are integrated in the channel plate or
integrated in the barrier plate, or the pins can be integrated in
both the channel plate and the barrier plate.
In one embodiment, thickened parts in the gasket material, holes in
the gasket material, or deformation zones in the gasket material
locate the gasket to corresponding holes, grooves or under cut
recesses in the barrier plate, in the channel plate or in both
channel plate and the barrier plate. In one embodiment, the barrier
plate or the channel plate has holes having countersunk areas,
holes which are all-through holes, or holes which are all-through
holes having countersunk areas.
The gasket comprises a sheet of soft gasket material having a cut
through pattern corresponding to a channel in a channel plate. In
one embodiment, the gasket has holes or other locating means, such
as thickened parts, parts attached to the gasket or deformation
zones, for fitting into or to corresponding fitting means in the
flow module or the flow reactor. In one embodiment, the gasket is
limited by a flat sealing surface of the channel plate. In one
embodiment, the thickened parts are materials added to the gasket
on the locating spots, and the added materials could be of the same
material as the gasket and be produced at the same time as the
gasket. In one embodiment, the parts attached to the gasket are of
the same material as the gasket or a different material, such as
for instance an expanded PTFE gasket having attached PTFE parts. In
one embodiment, the deformation zones could be permanently
deformable zones.
In one embodiment, the gasket is made of a material which is
characterized by layers of a stochastic fibrous structure with
large amount of void space. At assembly, such a gasket will first
undergo a large non-recoverable deformation and if load is
increased a second elastic, recoverable deformation will take
place. Such a material is very soft and the shape of a gasket is
highly dependent on how it is handled and located on the sealing
surface. In one embodiment, the gasket is a flat sheet, or multi
layer sheet of a suitable material, example of such material may be
multi layer expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE). In one
embodiment, the material of the gasket is made from some other
polymeric or elastomeric material such as, but not limited to,
polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polypropene (PP),
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) etc. or Viton.RTM., Teflon.RTM.,
Kalrez.RTM. etc. Preferably the gasket material is expanded
PTFE.
The cut through pattern in the gasket makes it possible for the
flow of media or the flow of fluids in the channel of the channel
plate to touch the barrier plate and to have no contacts with the
gasket's planar faces and little or minimized contact with any of
the gaskets edges. In one embodiment, the gasket has a border line
shape corresponding to a border line shape of a barrier plate or a
channel plate to which barrier plate and channel plate the gasket
is sealing the channel. The gasket and the locating means of the
gasket would provide a precise location of the gasket, even for
very complex shaped gaskets, and a sealed joint between the channel
plate and the barrier plate. The new and improved gasket and the
locating means of the invention also solves the problem of handling
the parts at assembly by securely attach the gasket to one of the
sealing surfaces.
In one embodiment, the gasket is located by thickened parts, parts
attached to the gasket other locating means or deformation zones in
the gasket, which could be locating the gasket to corresponding
holes, grooves or corresponding under cut recesses in the barrier
plate or in the channel plate. Parts that are attached to the
gasket are for example, but are not limited to, pins, O-rings,
buttons, etc. In one embodiment, the gasket is located by pressing
the gasket material into under cut recesses in the flat surfaces
surrounding the gasket.
In one embodiment, the pins are loose pins which are fitted into
holes, or the pins could be integrated in the channel plate or
integrated in the barrier plate. The material of the loose pins is
suitably selected from the group consisting of
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluorelastomers,
fluorelastomers, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polypropene (PP).
Integrated pins are of the same material stock as the part it is
integrated in. Loose pins could have a head attaching the gasket to
the sealing surface. In one embodiment, the holes in the barrier
plate or in the channel plate have countersunk areas for the
fitting of headed pins to allow the head to "disappear" and level
flat with the gasket surface. The holes could be all-through holes
according to the invention to facilitate disassembly and
cleaning.
One solution, to use with an ePTFE gasket, would be for example a
dowel pin with a head made of PTFE which chemically is the same
material as the gasket. The gasket is located and attached by
pushing pins through holes in the gasket and down into holes in the
first sealing surface with a light interference fit. The second
mating sealing surface has no holes and maybe totally flat. It
pushes directly on the head of the dowel pin which are further
pushed down as the gasket compresses. To remove the pins, for
example the dowel pins, it is convenient with all-through holes, it
is then possible to push the pins out from the back. Thus, one
alternative would be to use counter sunk head dowel pins of a
suitable material.
In another embodiment, integrated dowel pins are employed. This
solution makes the gasket both easy to locate and easy to attach.
Dowel pins may be integrated on the first sealing surface. By doing
the dowel pins of the same piece of material as the sealing surface
the problem of drilling depth and crevices is eliminated. In one
embodiment, the holes in the gasket are with an interference fit to
attach the gasket securely. The mating second sealing surface has
holes with a clearance fit.
Yet another alternative would be to flatten down the gasket in
recesses in the sealing surface. By this procedure the gasket is
located and attached by permanent deformation, and the gasket
sticks to the first sealing surface. This is done by under cut
recesses in the surface where the gasket is pushed and flattened
down. The mating second sealing surface has no holes and maybe
totally flat.
The present invention relates further to use of gasket locating
arrangements for sealing a channel in a plate reactor or in a plate
flow module to make it possible for the flow of media or the flow
of fluids in the channel of the channel plate to touch the barrier
plate and to have no contacts with the gasket's planar faces and
little or minimized contact with any of the gaskets edges.
The present invention relates further to a flow module, preferably
a plate reactor, comprising one or more gasket locating
arrangements according to the invention, and one or more heat
transfer means for heat transfer to and from the channel, and
wherein each channel plate has one or more inlets, preferably two
inlets, to the channel, and one outlet from the channel. The
channel plate can have one or more port holes, the port holes makes
it possible to access the channel. The heat transfer mean can
comprise a utility plate and a barrier plate, between the utility
plate and the barrier plate may a turbulator insert be inserted for
enhancing the heat transfer to and from the channel of the channel
plates.
In the following will the invention be explained by the use of
FIGS. 1 to 13. The figures are for the purpose of demonstrating the
invention and are not intended to limit its scope.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention wherein a
headed dowel pin is located in a hole.
FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the present invention wherein a
headed dowel pin is located in a hole.
FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the present invention wherein a
headed dowel pin is located in a hole.
FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention wherein a
protruding pin is locating the gasket.
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention wherein a
protruding pin is locating the gasket.
FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention wherein a
protruding pin is locating the gasket.
FIG. 7 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention
wherein the gasket is pressed into a recess.
FIG. 8 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention
wherein the gasket is pressed into a recess.
FIG. 9 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention
wherein the gasket is pressed into a recess.
FIG. 10 shows how a gasket is placed between a channel plate and a
barrier plate according to the invention.
FIG. 11 shows how a gasket is placed between another channel plate
and a barrier plate according to another embodiment of the
invention.
FIG. 12 shows how a gasket is placed between another channel plate
barrier plate according to another embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 13 shows a turbulator insert to be placed in a utility plate
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a gasket 1 located with a pin 2 on to
all-through hole 3. In this figure the pin is a headed pin or a
headed dowel pin. The head 4 is fitted into countersunk area 5, see
FIG. 2. Since the hole of the gasket is fitting pin 2, then the
gasket material will follow the pin down into countersunk area 5.
This solution does locate and attach the gasket to one of the
surfaces during assembly. All-through hole 3 have a countersunk
area for the head of pin 2, thus the head "disappears" in the
surface, which surface should still remain flat. All-through hole 3
allows easy removal of pins 2 when disassembling the reactor or
flow module. Another advantage of all-through holes is that the
holes will be easily cleaned. FIG. 3 also illustrates that the
gasket 1 has been compressed when the reactor or the flow module is
assembled, and the thickness is less than that of an unused
gasket.
FIG. 4 shows how the gasket 1 is located onto protruded pin 7 or
onto integrated pin 7, and FIG. 5 shows how the gasket 1 is fitted
on a plate 8 and the pin 7. The holes in gasket 1 may have an
interference fit to attach gasket 1 to plate 8. Hole 9 in mating
plate 10 has to have a clearance fit to allow assembly.
FIG. 7 shows the gasket 1 before it is pressed into under cut
recess 11 in plate 12. The gasket 1 is pressed into under cut
recess 11 in FIG. 8. The gasket 1 is equipped with other locating
means such as, but not limited to, thickened parts or parts
attached to the gasket that fits in recesses. In FIG. 9, the gasket
1 is compressed when the reactor or flow module is assembled. The
gasket 1 is located and attached by permanent deformation, and
gasket 1 sticks to the first sealing surface. This is done by under
cut recesses in the surface where the gasket is pushed and
flattened down. Mating second sealing surface 13 has no holes and
maybe totally flat.
FIG. 10 shows how the gasket 14 is located between channel plate 15
and barrier plate 16 or placed between channel plate 15 and heat
exchanger plate 16 according to the invention. The gasket 14 has
cut-through areas 17 corresponding to channel 18 of channel plate
15. Pins 19 locate gasket 14 onto channel plate 15 through holes 20
in the gasket 14 and into holes 21 in the channel plate 15. The
pins 19 could be any type of pins, in this figure headed dowel pins
are shown, and the pins 19 are fitted into holes 21 having
countersunk areas and the holes are all-through holes in this
figure. In one embodiment, the holes 21 are of other types
according to the invention. The channel plate 15 includes a
plurality of port holes 12P providing access to the channel 18.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show how gasket 22 is located between channel plate
23 and bather plate 24, according to another embodiment of the
invention. The gasket 22 has cut-through area 25 corresponding to
channel 26 of channel plate 23. Integrated pins 27 in the channel
plate 23 locate the gasket 22 through holes 28 in the gasket on to
channel plate 23. The pins 27 are mated into holes 29 in the
barrier plate 24, see FIG. 12.
FIG. 13 shows a means for heat transfer in a flow module,
preferably in a plate reactor, according to one embodiment of the
invention. The heat transfer means comprises two parts, one part is
a utility plate 30 having a compartment 31, and the second part is
a barrier plate 32. For the purpose of enhancing the heat transfer
to and from a channel in a channel plate, the channel plate is not
seen in FIG. 13, can a turbulator insert 33 be inserted between
utility plate 30 and barrier plate 32. Turbulator insert 33 can be
inserted into any type of heat transfer means which could harbour a
turbulator insert. The heat transfer means according to the
invention is, for example, of any kind and the heat transfer means
shown in FIG. 13 is one example of possible heat transfer
means.
* * * * *